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Ansells Brewery

G G Jean said:
The strike of 1981.

:D Does anyone remember the strike of 1981 at Ansells?. My brother used to work at Holte Street and my husband was on the fermentation side of the brewing at Aston Cross. He later moved to Aldridge and finished at Carlsberg Gravely Park. :D Bye for now. Jean.
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Hi Jean, are you the Jean that's friends with Ken Moly?
 
Hi Anner my brother was a checker at Holte street and my husband on fermentation at Aston Cross. My goodness his clothes did smell of the stuff!!. I sure am a friend of the lovely Ken Moly and am in touch with one of his daughters too. Pete and Albert my brother finished up at Carlsberg Gravely Park after moving from the Aldridge depot. This badge was made after the strike was over.
 

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I remember the strike - I believe it was engineered by the management but I may be being cynical. I was working as a temp there at the time. My friends husband was a drayman and they went through a really rough time with very little money.
 
hi keiron firstly my sincere condolances on the loss of your grandad....what sort of info are you looking for

lyn
 
Astoness said:
hi keiron firstly my sincere condolances on the loss of your grandad....what sort of info are you looking for

lyn
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Oh, crossed wires here .... I was contacted by his grandson, the Bitter Man was not my grandfather.

I though perhaps he might be known by somebody on the forum. In the meantime, I have asked his grandson to send some information on Trevor Bowater which I will share as his face will be very familiar to those who drank in an Ansell's pub.
 
www.midlandspubs.co.uk said:
Oh, crossed wires here .... I was contacted by his grandson, the Bitter Man was not my grandfather.

I though perhaps he might be known by somebody on the forum. In the meantime, I have asked his grandson to send some information on Trevor Bowater which I will share as his face will be very familiar to those who drank in an Ansell's pub.
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oops sorry about the crossed wire....well trevors face would certainly have been familar to my dad who was an ansells man..
 
I have received this message today. I don't know the answer but thought it might be worth asking the expertise of the forum, particular as there are some "Bittermen" in the membership :

I was hoping you could help me date a piece of breweriana that I recently found in a nearby bit of wasteland to me. It was a glass bottle (from The Royal Berks Mineral Water Co.) but it had a screw top lid that was an Ansell's one. Doing a bit of Web research, I came across your website which I heartily commend you on. Such a mine of information! Looking through your website, I was able to establish that it was made after 1901 as it says Ansell's Brewery Ltd on it. The rest of the branding is the 'triple A' logo and so I was wondering if this could help date it. Do you know if and when they stopped using this branding and when they brought in the handwriting-style 'Ansells' logo? Did this one replace the 'triple A' logo? I appreciate you may not be able to help, but thought it worth asking and I'd appreciate any help you can give.

If anybody is a collector of such stuff or simply knows a bit about antiques/collectibles and has an answer please post a reply and I will forward it to the enquirer crediting any contribution. Ta very much.
 
Just found this site and immediately searched for Ansells Brewery. My father and Grandfather both worked there. Used to go to the social club most Saturday nights with my parents throughout the 70’s including the great bonfire on November 5. Happy times.
 
My dad worked at Aston Cross as a driver I believe from mid 60s until the early 80s he worked with Geoff Stubbs also known as stubby My dad was Billy Vaughan who paced away in December 2010 I used to play for the the youth team that was managed by Sid Timmons and coached and trained by Kenny Burns and Jimmy Calderwood, I recall training on a Thursday evening on the sand pitch which I believe had only one set of posts, that’s all I needed as I was a keeper, we used to stay in the social club afterwards while Kenny burns and jimmy Calderwood used to fill everyone in on all things Blues, No interest to me as I am and always have been from the claret and blue side, I do remember them getting severely drunk some Thursdays though,
 
Andrew V said:
My dad worked at Aston Cross as a driver I believe from mid 60s until the early 80s he worked with Geoff Stubbs also known as stubby My dad was Billy Vaughan who paced away in December 2010 I used to play for the the youth team that was managed by Sid Timmons and coached and trained by Kenny Burns and Jimmy Calderwood, I recall training on a Thursday evening on the sand pitch which I believe had only one set of posts, that’s all I needed as I was a keeper, we used to stay in the social club afterwards while Kenny burns and jimmy Calderwood used to fill everyone in on all things Blues, No interest to me as I am and always have been from the claret and blue side, I do remember them getting severely drunk some Thursdays though,
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It was Sid Timmins and he was my uncle. He passed away after a tragic accident in Dec' 2011. I used to come down with Sid and watch the training when I was on leave from the Navy and I spent a weekend with the youth team in Monmouth once. I don't remember Kenny Burns being there but Jimmy Calderwood was and Trevor Francis went down too. The only thing I remember about the weekend was all of us getting pretty drunk in the hotel that night. Don't remember how well the lads did in the game next morning. Maybe you was on that trip Andrew?
 
chocks2 said:
It was Sid Timmins and he was my uncle. He passed away after a tragic accident in Dec' 2011. I used to come down with Sid and watch the training when I was on leave from the Navy and I spent a weekend with the youth team in Monmouth once. I don't remember Kenny Burns being there but Jimmy Calderwood was and Trevor Francis went down too. The only thing I remember about the weekend was all of us getting pretty drunk in the hotel that night. Don't remember how well the lads did in the game next morning. Maybe you was on that trip Andrew?
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I did go on the tour to Pembroke in Wales, went on the Friday evening and played games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, also played a game on the way home on the Monday I remember going for dinner after the Monday game in an old airforce hanger it was just before or after the seven bridge, sorry to hear about your uncle, Sid was a nice bloke he took me under his wing a bit when I joined the football club, I think because he was like me a goalkeeper, he had ties to wolves if I remember correctly he actually brought me the first ever pair ok goalie gloves I ever owned, I was only around 14 /15 at the time but Sid left a lasting impression on me. The last time I saw him was when I was playing for the holte pub by villa park and he happened to be watching the team we were playing, my dad spoke of him and the rest of the an lads fondly up until he passed from cancer in December 2010
 
Andrew V said:
I did go on the tour to Pembroke in Wales, went on the Friday evening and played games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, also played a game on the way home on the Monday I remember going for dinner after the Monday game in an old airforce hanger it was just before or after the seven bridge, sorry to hear about your uncle, Sid was a nice bloke he took me under his wing a bit when I joined the football club, I think because he was like me a goalkeeper, he had ties to wolves if I remember correctly he actually brought me the first ever pair ok goalie gloves I ever owned, I was only around 14 /15 at the time but Sid left a lasting impression on me. The last time I saw him was when I was playing for the holte pub by villa park and he happened to be watching the team we were playing, my dad spoke of him and the rest of the an lads fondly up until he passed from cancer in December 2010
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That must be a different trip to the Monmouth one I mentioned Andrew. Sid had a heart of gold and his connections with football was vast. He was on the youth books for Aston Villa before signing for Wolves. He then moved to Port Vale for a while before giving up playing. He was then involved with the Blues for a long time but at what capacity I don't know but the Blues were always his first love. When I joined the RN, Sid moved into our house (my dad was his older brother Ron Timmins, who also worked at Ansells) and stayed there until he married again. I knew your dad slightly through Sid, sorry to hear he's passed. My dad passed away last year and as I said, Sid passed away a few years ago. It seems like all the old school have gone now. Sad but that's the way it goes. All the best to you Andrew. Thanks for the mention of Sid.
 
Hi new to this group, I wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction for memorabilia from Ansells please. It's my farther in laws 75th in December and he worked there for a number of years until it closed. We want to get him a few things as he's always talking about his days there. I've trawled ebay and got a few beer mats a rubber in the shape of beer glass but not much else on there !! So finger's crossed you can help.
Huge thanks in advance.
Andy
 
What is your dads name Andy as Pete is the same age and worked there till he retired?. You can try to purchase an old Ansells magazine as they used to be in circulation. Pete let someone borrow his and it was never returned unfortunately. Good luck.
 
Will let Pete know Andy. He is Pete Smith was on the brewing then the Drays and finished off at Gravelly Park as Chargehand in the warehouse.
 
Hi everyone, I have not been on the forum of late as I have been busy working on other parts of the Midlands. I do a bit each day and it never stops. Anyway, hope you are all keeping well. I came across this item today .... it is a message from the Chairman of Ansell's to employees and dated January 1970 - note the opening sentence, a timely reminder. It refers to the Hong Kong flu epidemic which accounted for around one million lives, a figure that Covid-19 has recently passed.

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